Extrasolar Planets
The big news this week is the discovery of the smallest exoplanet yet discovered, Gliese 581 e in the constellation Libra. The new planet is just twice the mass of earth, and orbits it’s red dwarf parent star in just under 4 days.
Gliese 581 is just 20 light years away and has 3 other known planets. Extra solar planet hunters are finding more and more multi planet systems around nearby dwarf stars. Gliese 876, for example, is another similar multi planet system, just 15 light years away in the constellation Aquarius. 55 Cancri is another similar system, except it is a yellow dwarf binary system. In spite of orbiting very different parent stars, these multi planet solar systems are structurally similar to our own solar system.
In other news, a recent article suggests our galaxy is probably dirty with sister earths, greatly increasing the likelihood of finding life on other planets.
Mercury
MESSENGER has finally sent back new images from it’s 3rd flyby of Mercury.
Earth
China has announced specifications for a new super heavy lifter. The new launch platform will weigh 675 tons, and be capable of launching a 12 ton payload to GEO or 25 tons to LEO. ESA has launched 2 new space telescopes, new space telescopes, Herschel and Planck.
Moon
India’s Chandrayaan-1 has sent new images of the moon to probe the possible existence of water in permanently shadowed craters.
Mars
Spirit has been plagued by troubles. First, a glitch caused a loss of data from memory. To make maters worse, Spirit has become badly stuck in loose sand. Mission engineers are still working on a plan to try to get out of the difficult situation.
In other Mars news, the Russian Phobos-Grunt sample return mission to the moon Phobos will also include a sample of microbes from Antarctica to see if they can survive the trip.
DSR 2.8
The big news this week is the discovery that Theta 1 Orions C, a bright star in the Trapezium in Orion (that is a collection of bright stars in the Orion nebula, just below his belt) is actually a binary star. 
What’s more exciting is the discovery was made by the VLTI in Chile, an optical interferometer with amazing resolving power. Light from the 4 telescopes can be combined in a way to increase the resolving power to be equivalent to a single telescope with a much larger mirror. 
In other space imaging news, an images of exoplanet HR 8799b was found in 10 year old images collected by the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) instrument on Hubble. It turns out the image had been collected many years ago, but the existence of the planet was not known at the time. HR 8799b was officially “discovered” at the Gemini North observatory in 2007. Later examination of the NICMOS images revealed the planet actually was imaged much earlier. In astronomy, it’s actually fairly common for some celestial object to be “discovered” and then later found in much earlier images. The star HR 8799 has 3 known planets, each with 7-10 time the mass of Jupiter orbiting far from their sun. HR 8799 is about 1.5 times the size of our sun. The inner planet has a nearly circular orbit, and although the shapes of the orbits of the other planets are not known, they most likely orbit in a roughly 1:2:4 resonance. Although the planets are much larger than the gas giants of our solar system, there are many striking similarities between HR 8799 and our own solar system, including the possibility of undiscovered terrestrial planets in the inner solar system. 
Meanwhile, on Mars, Spirit set a new driving record (for 5 wheel driving) and Opportunity is using the RAT, MI, Mossbauer Spectrometer, and X-Ray spectrometer on a new target found on Meridiani. Some of these instruments have not been used in years. As usual, HortonHeardaWho has posted some terrific images on his flickr photo stream, it is definitely worth taking a look.  In other news, LISA, an spacecraft designed to detect gravity waves scheduled for launch in 2018, should also be able to detect and measure the mass of near earth asteroids as they pass by. They are predicting they will be able to measure 1 or 2 NEAs per year. Also, Paragon Space Development Corporation plans to grow plants on the moon DSR 2.7
Deep Space I’m putting this first because this is the coolest news. COROT has discovered the smallest exoplanet yet, COROT-Exo-7b. The planet is just 2x earth’s diameter, orbiting very close to a sun like star once every 20 hours. The surface temperature is predicted to reach 1000-1500 C. Also, the Kepler mission, which is designed to search for earth like planets around other stars, is more or less ready for launch on 3/6/09 Near Earth Space You’ve probably already heard about the spectacular collision of two satellites last week. But you might not have heard about the 35 m asteroid 2009 DD45 which passed within 72,000 km of the earth on 3/2/09. That's less than twice the distance of a geosynchronous communication satellite. And finally, Japan's Hayabusa spacecraft, an asteroid sample return mission, has managed to restart engines after 16 months. It is now expected to return to earth with a sample of the surface of asteroid Itokawa some time in 2010, after traveling 4.5 billion kilometers. The Moon A quick summary of the news form our nearest neighbor: Mars Spirit has recovered recovered from it’s fault . Most likely explanation of earlier fault was a cosmic ray hit. Also, it seems another cleaning event has occurred, increasing total output of the solar panels by 15%. However, this increases the discretionary power budget from from 30 to 60 watt hours per day. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has entered safe mode. And, Phoneix data finds possibility of thin films of liquid water on Mars. In similar environments on earth, in particular the dry valleys in Antarctica, microorganisms survive using these thin films of water, sometimes only nanometers thick. The possibility of life on Mars surviving under these conditions is tantalizing.
Deep space Report 2.2
Mars Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Russian Space Agency have announced plans to develop a joint mission to Mars. The mission plans to land a spacecraft on Phobos and sample the surface material directly. This may confirm the presence of water ice on Phobos. Jupiter A sophisticated computer simulation has predicted that Jupiter may have solid core of water ice and other rocky materials. NASA and ESA have also announced plans to work on a joint mission to Jupiter's moons Europa and Ganymede, the Europa-Jupiter System Mission (EJSM). Saturn Measurements of Encleadus' mysterious plumes have shown the material is moving at 1360 mph. It is difficult to imagine how to achieve this velocity without liquid water near the surface of the tiny moon. Alberta Meteorite Update The spectacular fireball seen last week over Alberta, Canada has now been estimated to have been an approximately 10 ton asteroid which entered the atmosphere at approximately 14 km/s. This is relatively slow, compared to an average velocity of around 20 km/s. Several security cameras recorded the event. Dr. Peter Brown of the University of Western Ontario hopes to find as many video recordings as possible, as this will help to determine the original orbit of the asteroid. Although no fragments of the actual meteorite have yet been recovered, it is likely that some will be found. Only 9 other meteorites have been associated with a known orbit prior to impact. With any luck this will be the tenth. Noting that meteorites have substantial commercial value, under Canadian law, meteorites are the property of the landowner of the property on which they are found. Deep Space Report 1.09
Luna Britain is now planning it's own moon mission, MoonLITE, focusing on studying moon quakes. Water on Mars There were two exciting discoveries this week related to water on mars. First, they have identified what seems to be an ancient shoreline, indicating an ocean once existed that would have been as large as the Mediterranean, and possibly even larger. The other, perhaps more exciting, discovery is buried glacial ice in Hellas basin, between 35 and 60 degrees latitude. The ice is buried by less than a meter of rock and debris, which acts as an insulating blanket, otherwise the ice would have sublimated long ago. The ice containing deposits, which appear as gently sloping aprons at the bases of taller features, have puzzled NASA scientists since they were first observed in the early 70s. Conclusive evidence from the ground penetrating radar from MRO show these aprons are in fact made of ice. Opportunity Continues on to Endeavour Hortonheardawho has posted some awesome new color panoramas from Oppy's journey to Endeavour. They've set several new daily records, But what's amazing is the consistent distance they are putting on. Sol 1704 
Sol 1707 
JPL has also published an updated an updated traverse map from sol 1713. Be sure to check it out at full res. This is a terrific example or MRO's MOC capabilities. Image resolution could easily pick out even smaller boulders or ejecta debris, although I haven't spotted any. I think the JPL page links to the source image from MRO. 
MSL site list narrowed NASA has narrowed down the list of candidates for the MSL landing site to 4: 
- Holden Crater - another crater, similar to Gusev Crater, with and outflow channel, containing alluvial fans, flood deposits, possible lake beds and clay-rich deposits.
- Mawrth Vallis - contains exposed layers containing at least two types of clay.
Deep space The Dawn spacecraft has shut down its ion motor and will cruise unpowered until February next year, when it will have an encounter with Mars. Dawn is on schedule for an encounter with Vesta in 2011 and Ceres in 2015. French astronomers have used the ESO' Very Large Telescope to image yet another extra solar planet, beta pictoris. Beta Pictoris is a very young star, about 12 million years old, about 70 light years away. The planet has approximately 8 times the mass of Jupiter and orbits at the distance Saturn orbits our sun. I think this is perhaps the most earth like solar system yet imaged. A recent study has detected cosmic rays which appear to be originating from a nearby source, perhaps 300 light years away or less. The high energy electrons are encountering the earth at such high velocity that they could not have traveled much further than that without losing more velocity. However, the detector is not capable of accurately determining what direction the electrons are coming from, so we really have no idea where the source is, just that it must be relatively nearby. China as a space threat The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission issued a report to congress which, among other things, warns of China's space program as a potential military threat. What does this have to do with deep space? Well, the biggest space program in US history, Apollo, was a military program. It was a response to a perceived threat by the USSR, and a demonstration of the US space capability. In particular it was a demonstration of the US ICBM capability. What, Saturn V was just a giant ICBM? Yes it was, why do you think NASA built a disposable launch vehicle? You don't reuse ICBMs. And, China has stated that there long term goal is to establish a permanent base on the moon. Now, if this is seen as a potential military threat, we must follow suit and build our own moon base with equal or greater capability. Of course we also have plans for a permanent moon base, but the plans of NASA can shift from year to year. With out a "guns and butter" justification for the expense of such a program, it would be likely to lose support eventually, especially when the enormous cost of a moon base turns into a line item on this year's congressional budget talks. Whether or not there is a real military threat isn't really the point. The point is there is a congressional report which at least mentions this as a possibility, and that should be all the support we need. Deep Space Report 1.8
Cool Stuff Check out this interactive map of nearby stars: 
Luna Chandrayaan-1 has begun remote sensing of the moon, and has also landed a remote probe, although apparently the probe had a "hard landing" that "terminated it's functioning." But, let's focus on the success, they DID land the probe on the moon! NASA has also tested some more lunar rover designs, and more importantly two separate ISRU methods to extract oxygen from lunar material. This is a really big deal, not only can lunar oxygen be used to breath, it also makes up the bulk of most rocket propellants. Future missions to the moon might use lunar oxygen as propellant for a return trip. Mars Spirit has been caught in a dust storm which has drastically reduced the amount of solar power generated by its solar panels. NASA has commanded the rover to take some severe power saving measures, including shutting down the heater to the thermal imager. The thermal imager is susceptible to cold, so shutting down the heater may cause permanent damage to the imager. As of last Friday, Spirit was low on power but still communicating with NASA. Deep Space ESA's Ulysses spacecraft is about to end it's 14 year mission to study the sun. Its RTG power generator is beginning to wane, and soon it will lose the ability to operate. Launched in 1990, Ulysses first traveled to Jupiter and used a gravitational assist to launch into an orbit which took it over the poles of the sun. It has orbited the sun 3 times since then, it was originally designed for a 5 year mission. Beyond Amazing images of 2 extrasolar planetary systems were published last week. A Jupiter size planet orbiting the star Fomalhaut, 25 light years away, 
and an amazing 3 planet system around HR8799, some 140 light years away. 
Deep space Report 1.7
There is not much to report form Luna and beyond this week. The big news was really Chandayaan-1. Other than that, the ESA announced they are delaying ExoMars again, Iowa State Research Center sponsored a symposium for asteroid deflection, and there was some interesting news on using a form of waterless concrete (made largely from lunar regolith) for construction on the moon. And, of course, Armadillo Aerospace won the LLC level 1.
There was also a NY times article on the possibility of ice on the moon. In a new study published in Science, infrared images of permanently shaded areas inside Shakleton crater taken by the Japanese SELENE spacecraft were analyzed. Although the temperature of these areas were found to be cold enough for water ice to be stable, infrared spectra of surface material in these areas did not include any ice. However, this does not preclude subsurface ice, even if it is only covered by a few centimeters of dust. In fact, if ice were present, one would expect to find at least a thin covering of moon dust, the moon being an extraordinarily dusty place. So, although ice was not detected directly, I would say the confirmation of the temperature being cold enough for ice to be stable is more of a positive sign than the lack of direct evidence for ice on the surface, which would not be expected anyway.
Here are some gratuitous video links 
Mercury
After it's successful encounter with Mercury a couple of weeks ago, Messenger has increased it's velocity relative to the sun to 63 km/s. This is the second fastest NASA spacecraft in history, the fastest being Helios 2 back in the 70s.
Earth
The IBEX spacecraft was launched on a Pegasus rocket last week. Pegasus is an aircraft launched rocket. IBEX's mission is to observe the boundary of our sun's magnetosphere. IBEX will use it's own solid rocket boosters to achieve a 100,000 mile earth orbit before beginning the science phase of it's mission.
Also, 9 teams (including Armadillo Aerospace, see RRL article last week) will compete in Northrup Grumman $2 million Lunar Lander Challenge this week. Here is a video from last year:
Mars
New observations by ESA's Mars Express spacecraft have been used to more accurately measure the mass and density of Phobos. With a revised density of 1.85 g/cc, which is significantly lower than the density or Martian rock at 2.7-3.3 g/cc, the conclusion is Phobos is most likely a rubble pile. It is also likely that the mass of Phobos contains significant quantities of water ice, which of course has a density of 1 g/cc. Of course, it would be nice to obtain a sample of Phobos, and a Russian mission planned to launch next year may do exactly that. However, with Russia's less than spectacular success record with missions to Mars, I would not bet on seeing those samples return to earth any time soon.
Opportunity is continuing on it's journey to Endeavour Crater, taking one last lap around Victoria first. Also, a couple of weeks ago, on sol 1671, Oppy acquired this panorama (assembled by Hortonheardawho)
Saturn
After the spectacular encounter with Enceladus last week, Cassini has still not posted any details or results from the encounter. They did post some raw images from 5000km+, but I was hoping for some extreme closeups. So far the hihgest res images are these images from August, at 545 km:
Now that is darn good, you can practically see the polar bears and leopard seals lounging on the ice, but if they got better images in the most recent encounter I'd love to see them.
Deep Space
A new comet was discovered last week, w00t!
Deep Space Report 1.3
All the news that's fit to print from Luna and beyond!
Luna
Carnegie Mellon University has decided to pursue the $20 million Google Lunar X Prize. http://www.space.com/spacenews/071001_businessmonday_lunarprize.html
The UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has developed a sophisticated x-ray camera for lunar observation. The camera is scheduled to be launched 10/22/08 on the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft - India's first mission to the Moon.
http://www.moondaily.com/reports/X_Ray_Specs_Ready_To_Eye_The_Moon_999.html
Mercury
MESSENGER's second pass by Mercury, a gravitational boost maneuver, is scheduled for 1/14/09. MESSENGER sill pass within 125 miles of the surface, snapping pictures as it goes. Although they are planning to eventually orbit Mercury, the planned trajectory uses many gravitational boost maneuvers to save fuel. They should achieve capture by Mercury in March 2011
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/081001-mercury-flyby-preview.html
Mars
Phoenix
The Phoenix science team held a press conference last Monday. They have discovered calcium carbonate and sheet silicates. These two minerals don't usually form without the presence of liquid water. Calcium carbonate was detected by both TEGA and MECA at 7% or more. In general, evidence of phyllosilicate clays are abundant. MECA lead scientist Michael Hecht commented, "We are seeing smooth-surfaced, platy particles with the atomic-force microscope, not inconsistent with the appearance of clay particles." Extreme dryness of soil might be related to perchlorate prevalence. So far the science team has not detected organics.
Perhaps more exciting, a laser instrument designed to measure the atmosphere has detected actual snow falling on Mars. The snow was detected high in the atmosphere. Similar to dry deserts on earth, This was a "ghost" snow since it evaporated before it reached the ground.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080930/ts_alt_afp/usscienceastronomyspacemars;_ylt=Aq1nxcED8qVFptS5WZdCAfwPLBIF
http://astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2890&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
Other Mars news
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered hundreds of small fractures on the surface of Mars which may have served to direct the flow of water through Martian sandstone billions of years ago.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080926-fracture-mars.html
http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/MRO_Reveals_Rock_Fracture_Plumbing_On_Mars_999.html
A new study based on information collected by the ESA's Mars Express Planetary Fourier Spectrometer has come up with an explanation for why Mars' ice caps are slightly offset. Detailed, accurate measurements of wind flow patterns have revealed that the Hellas Basin reroute high altitude winds and force weather systems towards the south pole. This creates a strong low-pressure system in the western hemisphere of Mars, which is responsible for the asymmetry of the southern polar cap.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080929-mm-mars-ice.html
Researchers at the DLR Institute of Planetary Research in Berlin have analyzed images of the Xanthe Terra region of Mars. "For years scientists have been suspecting that the current appearance of the landscape has, in part, been shaped by rivers that cut into the surface," comments Ernst Hauber of the German Aerospace Center. They have concluded that fan shaped sedimentary deposits are the result of flowing and standing water in Mars' ancient past.
http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/The_Ancient_Rains_Of_Mars_999.html
Deep Space
The Dawn mission to Ceres and other minor planets has reached it's first anniversary. Using an advanced ion propulsion system, Dawn has used 67 kg of propellant to produce 1.68 km/s delta V. It is difficult to put this amount of thrust in perspective, but it is a huge improvement over less efficient chemical rockets, and is only the beginning of Dawn's mission.
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Dawn_Reaches_It_First_Anniversary_999.html
F. Marchis, PI, at the SETI Institute and at UC-Berkeley, and P. Descamps from Paris Observatory announced recently the discovery of two moons around the M-type asteroid 216 Kleopatra, the so called "dog bone" asteroid.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20081002/sc_space/twocompanionsfoundneardogboneasteroid;_ylt=AokvI8HNSM.FpcO.QTvy4KqHgsgF
The Kepler planet hunting telescope mission has managed to cut costs and avoid cancellation. The nearly 1 meter Schmidt telescope was designed to scan a large field of stars, searching for earth size planets in potential habitable orbits. The new plan would launch the mission in 2009.
http://www.space.com/spacenews/070716_businessmonday_kepler.html
ESA's Stone-6 artificial meteorite tests if a Martian meteorite could transport living organisms to Earth.
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Stone_6_Artificial_Meteorite_Shows_Martian_Impactors_Could_Carry_Traces_Of_Life_999.html
Deep Space Report 1.1
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